Summer’s Crossing by Julie Kagawa Read Free Book Online Page A

gestured to the empty spot on her left. “Do sit, Sir Torin. Relax for a while. Let my servants attend you for a change.”
    â€œMy lady, it is not proper—”
    â€œI will decide what is proper in my court or not, Sir.” Titania’s voice was like a velvet coating over steel. “As you can see, my husband is not here, so I have the need to be protected from the riffraff at court. What better protection than having a famed knight errant at my side?” She gestured to the seat, more firmly this time. “Sit, Sir Torin. That is an order from your queen.”
    Sir Torin sat. Vi stared at him over the table, frosting covering her mouth, but Titania didn’t even glance at the child. Her attention seemed to have completely shifted to the knight sitting at her elbow. Torin met the queen’s gaze and gave a hesitant, furtive smile.
    â€œWell, Sir Fagan,” Titania said without looking at me, “it seems we are to listen to you sing of your adventures tonight. I do hope it will prove entertaining.”
    Oh, you have no idea . “Certainly, my queen.” I grinned. Spinning away from the happy couple, I marched to the center of the courtyard, pulling out a lute as I did. Sir Fagan—the real Sir Fagan, that is—could do a fair job of strumming a tune, but tonight would be his most memorable performance yet.
    My fingers flew over the lute strings, and I sang about two knights, sent by their king to retrieve the Treasure of the Moonbeast, only neither of them knew what it was. After weeks of searching and getting no answers, it was decided that the Treasure of the Moonbeast must be on the moon itself, and they needed the great pearl at the bottom of the Mermaid Queen’s ocean, rumored to be able to draw the moon down from the sky if taken from water. Both knights nearly drowned, fighting off waves of sirens and mermen as they fled back to dry land, but they did manage to steal the pearl. However, when they held it up to see if it would really capture the moon as the legends stated, the pearl slipped from their fingers, rolled off a cliff and fell back into the ocean from whence it came.
    The Summer gentry roared with that tale, laughing and clapping, calling for more. I glanced at the head of the table and saw Torin and the queen, deep in conversation, paying little attention to me. Titania was leaning close to the knight, speaking in whispers, and Torin was nodding solemnly. Perfect.
    â€œThis next song,” I announced, as my audience fell silent, “is a tale about lost love, and how we must never take for granted what we have right now.”
    This time, the song was soft and slow, full of yearning, about a knight who loved a noblewoman but feared expressing his love because of their difference in rank. It was a sad tune, and I made it as heart-wrenching as I could, weaving a bit of glamour into the notes for a bigger impact. I noticed two gentry who listened, enraptured, then stood and wandered away into the maze together.
    I kept my gaze on Torin and the queen as I sang. They didn’t look up, but Titania’s head moved closer and closer to the knight, until only a few inches separated them. Sir Torin didn’t shy away once, capturing her hand as it reached up to his face, pressing it to his lips.
    Abruptly the queen stood. Beckoning to a servant, she whispered something to him, pointing to Vi as she did. The satyr bowed his head and returned to the girl, taking away the cake and motioning her to follow. As the human and the satyr left the party, I grinned to myself.
    Stage one, complete. Guess Vi isn’t going to be entertaining us this evening, after all. Now, my Summer Queen. You’ve sent away your little pet; are you going to take the bait?
    Titania stretched luxuriously, then stepped up and lightly touched Torin’s shoulder, bending down to whisper in his ear. Yes, she was. Trailing her fingers down his arm, the queen stepped away, gave